Stocks to Watch: Microsoft, AT&T, Starbucks, P&G

NEW YORK -- Microsoft (MSFT) received a boost in its fiscal second quarter from its server & tools division and Windows 8 licenses, helping it post earnings that topped Wall Street expectations.

The software giant earned 76 cents a share on a GAAP basis during the quarter on revenue of $21.46 billion. Analysts were expecting profit of 75 cents a share on revenue of $21.5 billion.

The company's Windows division saw quarterly sales jump 24% year over year to $5.88 billion, thanks to Windows 8. Microsoft has sold over 60 million Windows 8 licenses to date. The server & tools business saw a 9% year-over-year increase in sales to $5.19 billion.

The company's total wireless revenue, which includes equipment sales, rose 5.7% to $17.6 billion. AT&T added 1.1 million wireless subscribers during the quarter, bringing the total to 107 million. This included 780,000 postpaid net adds, AT&T's biggest gain in 12 quarters.

AT&T sold a record 10.2 million smartphones and activated a record 8.6 million iPhones. AT&T also had its best-ever sales quarter for Android phones, but confirmed that record smartphone sales hurt margins. Fourth-quarter wireless operating income margin was 14.5%, down from 15.5% a year earlier.

In 2013, AT&T expects revenue growth to exceed 2% and to deliver earnings per share growth in the upper-single digits or higher.